Is there really no hope for local brands?

International audienceSince Ted Levitt's seminal article on the globalisation of business, the case now seems closed. In all managerial and consulting circles, and in most business reviews, global brands are the only thing that count, and the process of global branding the only thing worth spending time on. Indeed, all multinational companies are now engaged in a fierce and drastic reduction of their brand portfolios, focusing exclusively on the brands able to be globalised. Recently, L Owen Jones, CEO of L'Oréal, explained the remarkable growth of the company by the concentration of its activity on 12 truly global brands. But is the argument so cut and dried? This paper reconsiders the arguments for globalisation in the light of local brand successes